Cloud City Wing Guard [Sergeant Edian] - LC - Basic (BD50)

The elite Wing Guard is in charge of security on Cloud City, working as police officers, customs officials, and crisis controllers. Troopers such as Utris M'Toc and Sergeant Edian handle these crucial duties with honesty and efficiency.

Yes! We are able to put another check mark on our old “vintage versus modern” list! Last seen in the Star Wars toy line in 1982, Bespin Security Guard makes a return appearance in 2009’s Legacy Collection as Cloud City Wing Guard [Sergeant Edian]. Hasbro has attempted to bring the Bespin Security Guard character into the line a few times but each effort has been severely lacking. Sure we got the Bespin Guard (Cloud City Security) basic figure in 2001 during the Power Of The Jedi line, but that figure certainly has issues of its own with an open jacket and awkward lean, though we did like all of his accessories. We also later that year got the Carbon-Freezing Chamber Fan Club Exclusive but it came with an even worse Bespin Security Guard (because it utilized the POTF2 body type). Twenty-seven years since the release of the Bespin Guard (of African descent) have passed and Hasbro has treated us to a stunning new figure. No action poses, no inaccurately worn or sloppily assembled uniform, all problems have been remedied with the release of the 2009 figure (as well as 2010's LC Cloud City Wing Guard [Utris M’Toc] (BD50) figure). Hasbro has indeed created a flawless design sure to be a frequently utilizedtemplate for all future Bespin Security Guard figures. (And we hope that MANY more are on the way.) In fact, we would absolutely love to see a Battle Packs set with four unique ones – weare so long overdue for these characters and Hasbro got it right. Cloud City is full of these guards and they had significant screen time in the film. So, in our opinion, they deserve significant representation in the basic figure line. Cloud City Wing Guard is a brilliant action figure and we are buying a few to mix into our collection. And it will hopefully only be the beginning of many more excellent Bespin Guard action figures coming our way. But we wish that one issue had been addressed before the figure got released. (We will get to that shortly.)

Cloud City Wing Guard (maybe let's just call him Sergeant Edian here on out) is the first super-articulated figure of this character. The 14 points of articulation allow for distinct movement and none of them inhibit the figure’s ability to be posed. The figure’s outfit is faithful to the film (he’s all buttoned up) and the highlighting details like the gold trim and red cuffs look absolutely fantastic on him. The uniform is the correct shade of navy blue and the gold details just glisten on top of it. His body is lean and athletic and he looks very capable of keeping things in order at Bespin. On top of a stellar base body form, Sergeant Edian is also loaded with surprises. Both his baton and gun holsters are removable from his thighs. (They dislodge via plugs.) We hear some of your moans out there because you despise holes in your action figures, but trust us when we say that they are discrete and do not affect the aesthetic of the figure. On top of being removable for extra play value and since some of the guards didn’t carry this gear, it looks as if Hasbro has been forward thinking this character for future versions. Both the baton and gun fit in their functioning carry cases very well. While this Sergeant Edian figure looks perfect as a toy, we honestly don’t think that the figure looks that much like the actor who played the character that much as seen in the film. (For those of you who may not know, this actor was the double for Billy Dee Williams in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back too.) But then again, the vintage figure didn’t look like him that much either. You may disagree. But according to reference photos, the actor has much lighter skin and a distinctly different facial structure. Some collector have gone as far to say that this figure is Sergeant Merril with dark skin. Nonetheless, Sergeant Edian looks fantastic and we believe that many fans will look the other way with regards to his likeness because of how well made the action figure is.

So you must be wondering by now what the one negative could be. It’s his cap. Unless this is unique to our sample, (and this is something that we highly doubt), the cap does not fit on his head at all. It basically lays on top (very poorly) and if you move the action figure in the slightest, it will fly off for certain. Probably designed to universally fit both figures, it's really unknown if this cap was tested before finalized for both Sergeant Edian's and Utris M’Toc’s heads or not. To be honest, we have to consider this a little worse than a small problem. The cap completes the Cloud City Wing Guard uniform and it is a shame that is has not been constructed to fit like a glove on him. Unless a revision is in the works, we are actually quite surprised this slipped by Hasbro (unless of course this cap is meant to be the alien Cloud City Wing Guard’s cap). If this is true, does it mean that Utris M’Toc will come with Sergeant Edian’s cap? (Editor's Note: We have found multiple samples where the caps fit better on the head. It looks as if Hasbro has done some unannounced tweaking on this accessory!) Despite this little set back, Cloud City Wing Guard makes us quite happy to add him into our collections. We love completing the vintage figure upgrades too, even it has taken us almost a decade and a half so far to do so and we still aren’t finished. It keeps the hobby exciting and fresh. If Hasbro can continue to throw in a few of these figures into every year, it will continue to make us happy. We highly recommend looking into getting the Cloud City Wing Guard for your collection because it is [almost] everything you want your Bespin Security Guard to be. Obviously if a cap is removable, the risk of it not fitting exactly perfect exists. And it does exist here unfortunately (to an almost unacceptable degree). Don’t let this dampen your spirits about this figure. This figure has buoyed ours and stands as one of our favorites in the The Empire Strikes Back themed wave of figures in the Legacy Collection. We can’t wait to see who the third Cloud City Wing Guard will be, but whoever he is, he will be an exciting addition as well!